O'Keefe: A tax on luxury, like energy

7:41 PM,
Apr. 19, 2013

Written by

Terry O?Keefe
Columnist

In 2012, the New York Yankees baseball team ran up a player payroll of just over $222 million. For their generosity, they were slapped by their fellow owners with a "luxury tax" of just under $19 million. The tax was a punishment for exceeding the current salary cap of $178 million per team in baseball. In fact, the Yankees, baseball's most egregious overspenders, have paid $224 million in luxury taxes into baseball's collective till in just the last decade.

Baseball is alone among major sports in its luxury tax approach. Professional football, basketball and hockey teams operate under a ...